Introduction
A lot of gaming companies like to stand out from the competition and intrigue newbie gamers but advertise that their monitor has built-in speakers. But some companies like MSI understand who the real customer base is and you deserve to be part of that.
I’m talking about gaming monitor companies that not only understand refresh rate, response time, and aesthetics but also know how to give gamers the most cost-effective and quality monitors.
So why don’t MSI monitors have built in speakers?
MSI doesn’t make gaming monitors with built in speakers in order to save gamers’ money while maximizing display quality, resolution, refresh rate, and response time. Built-in monitor speakers are low quality (7 watts and below) and this feature makes monitors needlessly more expensive without giving you better visual capability.
After conducting extremely thorough research on almost all MSI gaming monitors from their online store. I found that none of them come with external speakers. Some do come with microphone technology, however. See the table below:
| Monitor | Speakers? | Other audio accessories |
| MSI 3440x1440p 100R Curved | No | Built in microphone |
| MSI Optix MAG274QRX | No | Can plug external speakers |
| MSI Optix AG321CR Curved | No | None |
MSI wants to provide more cost effective monitors
What I’m really impressed by is that MSI is a gaming company that actually understands their audience. Any avid gamer knows that built-in speaker quality is not going to be as good as desktop speakers. Why is this so important? Because gamers want the biggest bang for their buck.
Check out the table below for a price comparison of MSI and ASUS brands:
I surveyed the prices of MSI’s most common gaming monitors and compared them to monitors with built-in speakers.
MSI, on average, provides $260 monitors that achieve 1440p resolution with 144hz refresh rate at roughly 27″-32″ size (not including their affordable 100R curved monitors) for a cheaper price than monitors with built-in speakers.
This means for an extra $45-80, you can buy a set of desktop speakers that provides way better quality, depth of volume, and bass.
This is even assuming you don’t already have gaming headsets that you already love and use.
Built-in speakers are lower quality than dedicated bookshelf speakers
I spent a few hours googling gaming monitors with built-in speakers and compared their wattage (a way to measure audio quality, loudness, and volume depth) to common speaker brands like Bose and Sony.
The table below is from my research.
I found that built-in speakers average 5-7 watts in terms of quality and that none of them came with bass!
| Monitor | Wattage | Bass Adjustable? |
| SANSUI 24 inch | 5W | No |
| DPLQT | 6W | No |
| Fiodio Ultrawide | 5W | No |
Consequentially, every single desktop or bookshelf speaker I researched had a bass adjustable knob as well as an ability to generate up to 32 watts of volume.
| Desktop Speaker | Wattage / Quality | Bass adjustable? |
| Edifier G2000 | 32W | Yes (16W) |
| Edifier R980T | 24W | Yes (14W) |
| PreSonus Eris | 24W | No (complaints on reviews) |
This means bookshelf speakers give you way better sound and bass than a gaming monitor ever will.
Almost all gamers don’t use a gaming monitor’s built-in speakers anyway
I’m part of a Facebook community called Gaming PC Enthusiasts. I polled the entire community to see which gamer’s actually use their monitor’s built-in speakers and the results below came not as a surprise:
As you can see, no one from my poll uses their monitor’s built in speakers! It really is a testament to how smart MSI is as a gaming company for not even making speakers come with their monitors!
I’ve gamed on all different types of audio output. For me, I’ve found that bookshelf speakers work best for me because I don’t use a microphone when I play online games. I just use the Discord app on my phone which works well.
I even got a good reply comment from my poll:
You’re paying more for less. That’s why you should buy a monitor without speakers no only to save money, but to also use that same money to buy a good headset or bookshelf speaker.
— Fasden Arnouli- Gaming PC Enthusiasts Avid Gamer
My Favorite Gaming Monitor Speaker Alternative
Now that we’ve established why companies like MSI don’t use built in speakers with their products, it’s time to talk about my favorite entry level desktop speakers.
I got these desktop speakers as a birthday gift on Amazon after I purchased my gaming PC. These are the ones I still use today even with my PC and TV setup. Below is my personal video review of the speakers.
If you don’t have time to watch the video then in short: they’re great for a conservative setup, don’t take up a lot of space, and get really loud. I can easily adjust the bass intensity any time I want to with ease. They’re also cheaper than $90 on amazon!
Related Questions
How do I plug in speakers to my gaming monitor?
Every gaming monitor will come with a way to plug in a speaker system, whether it’s a 3.5mm aux or optical cord. All these cords plug into the back of the monitor where it fits the correct input.
These audio cords don’t come with the monitor however.
When I bought my Sceptre ultrawide, I thought it would come with an audio cord but it didn’t- like many other monitors. You have to buy these separately.
Additional Resources
If you’re looking for the easiest and free way to get all the gold nuggets of knowledge on gaming gear, then check out my free e-book on the best guides to gaming gear. Simply enter your email in the sidebar to the right at the beginning of this article and it’ll go straight to your promotions folder.
As you can see, MSI is one of the smarter gaming companies to make monitors without built in speakers because they understand their audience, and the gaming community appreciates that. A lot of gaming companies try to beef up their gaming monitor’s quality by having them come with cheap speakers but they’re never that good in reality.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! If I missed anything, or if you have other questions or comments, feel free to reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond. I’m also taking article suggestions so feel free to send those over if you have them too.